Brittany Snow's Prom Hell!

Actress Brittany Snow of "American Dreams" on TV and films Hairspray, John Tucker Must Die and The Pacifier has never been to a prom in real life but has attended many in films and on TV. Now the 22-year-old lands in big date night hell as she is stalked by a killer in her first horror film Prom Night. After playing an ultra-sweetsie high schooler back in the 1960's in the TV show "American Dreams" and doing more mainstream films, Brittany turned "dark" playing a Nazi on TV's "Nip Tuck" and a prostitute in various indie flicks.

Why do a horror film at all and why Prom Night? What actually scares this pretty blonde? How does she find time to have a real life that doesn't include the usual party-girl mayhem? We checked in with the star in L.A. for the answers.....

TeenHollywood: Are you a fan of horror films? Why did you do one? Why specifically Prom Night?

Brittany: I am a fan of horror films. When I found out that this wasn't a remake that was nice because I feel like there are a lot of remakes going on right now with scary movies and thrillers. I really love the director, Nelson McCormick. This was also the first project that I've ever been a part of where I really had a big hands-on approach to the movie. I got to kind of create the script along with Nelson and the writer and kind of work as a producer on it and share my ideas on music and the clothes and the cast and how I wanted certain things to be. So that was really a cool thing to be a part of, because I never had done that before.

TeenHollywood: Did you ever actually get a little scared for real on set?

Brittany: I think to a certain extent. I try to engulf myself in what I'm doing when I'm actually shooting, so I do get a little scared, but it's hard to be scared for your life if you look out and you see 20 crew members staring back at you. When you get into it and there's somebody wrestling you down to the ground with a knife, it is a little scary to put yourself in that head space. If you really blur the lines too much, then it probably wouldn't be a good idea because then you'd be really freaked out and you'd probably want to leave the set or something.

TeenHollywood: What was it like jumping in and out of such a traumatized and vulnerable character in Prom Night, since this was your first horror film?

Brittany: Actually, that's a really, really hard thing. I never realized how hard a horror movie or thriller movie could be. You want to be fun and funny on set with friends that are crew members and other members of the cast and then have to go directly from laughing to hysterically crying because you're getting chased by a madman or a crazy person. You have to be hysterical. It's really hard to go in and out of those places and still maintain a life. If you can't then you would just be hysterically crying all day and that's no fun, so it is really hard to go in and out of that sort of stuff.

TeenHollywood: So, how did you conquer that?

Brittany: I kind of just developed a system of taking maybe two minutes to collect myself before I had to do something like that. I definitely respect anybody who does thriller or horror movies because it's not an emotion that you deal with every day; getting almost killed.

TeenHollywood: What do you think about the current tradition that after prom is supposed to be hook-up time? Do you think that there's too much pressure on teens to hook-up on prom night?

Brittany: I definitely think there's a lot of pressure with teenage girls and guys too, wanting to hook-up on prom. I think it kind of comes with [a feeling that] you have to lose your virginity or hook-up before you go off to college and prove that you're coming of age and you're going to be a man or woman. It's actually really sad because it has absolutely nothing to do with what you want to do. It's all about being pressured. I think that that's just kind of one of those things that comes along with the territory of prom.

TeenHollywood: Are some kids withstanding the pressure?

Brittany: The good thing is that more and more kids are getting smarter about knowing their limits and knowing what's right and what's wrong. I think that we're raising really good kids to be independent people. I think that hopefully they'll make the right decision that if it's not their time to do something like that, then they won't do it.

TeenHollywood: Did you ever go to a prom?

Brittany: I didn't actually. It's funny, because I did this movie and one of the first things they asked me when I went out for the part was, 'How was your prom? What was your prom like?' I told them, 'I never went to prom. I was working on 'American Dreams' at the time. I was actually working the day of my prom,' but I went to prom on 'American Dreams' and then shooting Prom Night, I pretty much fulfilled all of my prom wishes by being in a prom dress for three months straight.

TeenHollywood: Do you feel like you missed out by not having that sort of experience in real life?

Brittany: No, not really. I went through my freshman and sophomore year of high school and then by that time I was really focused on acting and wanting to do what I felt like I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I really loved it and I never was mad about missing prom or anything like that because I got to be on a TV show and that was really cool. But I still have my best friends from Florida and they sent me lots of pictures and they caught me up with what they were doing, so that was always really nice.

TeenHollywood: I noticed that three of the roles that you've taken, in Hairspray, in "Nip/Tuck", and also on "American Dreams", all deal with race relations. Do you think it's important for you to take on a role that might be difficult or challenging or controversial?

Brittany: I played a Nazi on 'Nip/Tuck'. Do I believe in white supremacy and that sort of stuff? No, not at all, so whether it's my part in Hairspray or other things like that I think it's really just [choosing] something that's going to challenge me with the psychology of being another person and believing truly what they believe. I just really like playing different characters that have different views of life. I love being able to play characters that actually stand for something and deal with issues that are real and relevant.

TeenHollywood: Horror films always feed off intensity. What was the most intense scene for you?

Brittany: There's a scene where I have to view my mother getting killed right in front of me. It takes place when I'm 16 years old, so not only am I playing much younger than I am, but I'm also on the ground, under the bed, watching my mom get killed. Getting into that mentality is actually even worse, I think, than getting chased by a crazy killer or a psychopath. Getting into that head space was not very fun because you don't want to think about those sorts of things, but it was challenging. You can't attach yourself too much to it or else you'd be crying a lot more than you should be.

TeenHollywood: Have you seen any of the old Prom Night films and what is your favorite scary movie?

Brittany: I was going to watch the original Prom Night and then I thought that I actually shouldn't because this movie is not a remake at all. I watched part of it but I kind of didn't want to watch the rest of it just because I didn't want my brain somehow to be doing anything that Jamie Lee Curtis is doing or create any sort of character similarities or anything, so I just did my own thing and kind of went with the script that we had, which is completely different.

As far as my favorite scary movie, I think probably it was The Exorcist or The Children of the Corn movies. They were really scary because I saw them way too young. I just have like a mental image of watching that when I was really, really young and I shouldn't have been watching them and seeing those kids that were kind of my age being so scary. It still sticks out in my mind, so probably those are really frightening to me.

TeenHollywood: How do you choose your roles? Haven't you been going pretty dark lately?

Brittany: It really kind of just depends. In the past couple of years I've been choosing what some people would think were darker roles. After Prom Night I did two movies where I was playing a prostitute. I've also been in another movie where I played a prostitute. The movie that I'm doing right now is very dark. People would think that I would be going against the view of me as the girl next door. I just kind of gravitate toward characters that have some sort of inner turmoil or some sort of character arc where I can really dig in and challenge myself. That's usually people that have some sort of darker thing going on. It's not that I don't love comedies and really light things. I think that's the great thing about acting is being really diverse in your choices, so I'm really open to anything, but so far it's kind of going in that direction I guess.

TeenHollywood: What is your biggest fear? What scares you the most?

Brittany: Probably being alone on a desert island or in the middle of the ocean. I have a weird thing with water. It's weird because I'm from Florida, so you would think that I would be okay with water, but I guess being stuck out in the middle of the ocean alone would be my biggest fear.

TeenHollywood: What are some of those dark movies coming out that we haven't seen you in yet?

Brittany: Well, I have a movie coming out I think pretty soon. It's called Finding Amanda. It's premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. It will be out in the summer with Mathew Broderick. It's kind of a dark comedy. I play a prostitute in that. Then I also have a movie called Black Water Transit. That's from Director Tony Kaye, who did American History X, and so that's obviously not a very light movie. It's very art house, kind of crazy characters and crazy visuals and something only Tony Kaye, I guess, can do. I play a prostitute in that as well.

TeenHollywood: Aren't you shooting something now?

Brittany: I'm doing a movie right now called The Vicious Kind. I don't play a prostitute in that, thank gosh! It's kind of about men being obsessed with their girlfriends who cheated on them, and how that sort of mentality can completely mess you up for a really long time. I play a cool character in that as well. That will be out next year.

TeenHollywood: You seem really busy. How do you find time for every day life and fun with friends?

Brittany: I was just home in Florida, in Tampa last month. I guess, a great lesson that I've learned is that your life and your friends and family come first. I am so lucky to do what I do and I'm very grateful, but at the same time, in order to do my job well, I have to have those life experiences and get to be a real person and hang out with my friends. I am really into music and photography so getting to do all of that is really on the top of my priority list. Of course, my job is as well, but you just make time after working, in between movies. I had about six months in between my last movie and the movie that I'm doing now, so I took a photography class; I directed a commercial; I did things that I love to do. That's what's really great about being picky with what I do and also having great friends to support me in that down time too.

TeenHollywood: Have you been able to post your photos on the Web somewhere?

Brittany: I thought about it and kind of felt conflict about it. I don't know. As I get better, I think maybe I might. I've been thinking about maybe doing like a blog Website with pictures and poetry and things like that, but I'm not sure yet.

TeenHollywood: What do you think is the best way to watch a horror movie? Is it kind of slumber party style or cuddling up with a guy?

Brittany: I've always been partial to if you're just dating a guy and are in that stage of not really knowing if he likes you or not, a horror movie is always a really good idea. If you get scared they hug you and things like that. But, watching a horror movie with your girlfriends is always really fun and eating candy and popcorn and getting really scared and turning out all of the lights. Then of course, one of your girlfriends is always going to think that they see someone outside in the shadows. That's always really funny or scary and little things like that, so I think it's kind of a slumber party sort of situation. I like watching horror films at home and I like watching comedies in the movie theater.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.